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A frustrating start for the Honda Racing F1 Team at Albert Park.
Rubens
Barrichello delivered a strong, determined drive at Albert Park today
in the opening race of the 2008 season, but the delight at a sixth
place finish was replaced with disappointment as he was excluded from
the points after a pitlane infringement.
The season-opener was a race of high attrition, with only seven cars
making it to the finish, and Jenson was one of the unfortunate
retirees. He made a good start, passing Fernando Alonso away from the
line, but in the first corner melee he suffered an impact with
Sebastian Vettel which broke the left rear suspension of Jenson’s car,
leaving the rear wheel askew and ending his race there and then.
"I
got a good start off the line, getting past Alonso and running
alongside Vettel,” said Jenson. “Unfortunately it was just a racing
incident that caused the damage as we were going three or four cars
abreast down to the very narrow and quick first corner. I tapped Vettel
in the sidepod which seemed to spin him and then he turned in and hit
my rear wheel as I was going past. I thought that I could get back to
the garage and see if the car could be fixed, but the damage was too
bad to continue as the rear left corner trackrod was broken.”
Shortly
after Rubens was called in for the second of two planned pitstops, Timo
Glock had a crash and the safety car was deployed. The team had no
alternative but to continue to bring him in because he was out of fuel,
although the team realised that the pitlane was going to be closed due
to the safety car and that this would result in a 10-second stop-go
penalty.
During the pitstop the lollipop was lifted
just a fraction early while the fuel hose was just coming off the car.
After the pitstop Rubens exited the pitlane when the lights were still
red which is in breach of the regulations.
A tough set
of circumstances after an otherwise very committed drive by Rubens. He
got a good start and was able to keep Kimi Raikkonen behind him for 19
laps, so it is the positives that the team take away from this weekend.
“Although
the final result of today’s race is so disappointing,” commented the
Brazilian, “I’m really pleased with my performance and that we were
able to get the best out of the car. It was a crazy race today and I
lost control of the front damper after the first pit stop, so my race
was more difficult from there. It’s tough to finish the day like this.
“The
signs from the weekend show that this car has great potential and the
guys back at the factory have done a fantastic job over the last few
weeks on its development. It was good to complete a full race distance
to increase our understanding of the car. We'll now look forward to
Malaysia and optimising the performance of the car there.”
Team
Principal Ross Brawn, at his first race with the Honda Racing F1 Team,
leaves Melbourne with several positives, not least that the potential
of the RA108 has been proven. He said: “In qualifying we saw that the
pace of the car was in the midfield and today’s race confirmed that we
have the potential to fight for points, which is our target. The
aerodynamic package for Melbourne has worked well but a further step is
required to move us up the grid and enable us to be a regular contender
in Q3.”
After the team’s mixed fortunes of today, it has
just one week until the next race on the calendar, the Malaysian Grand
Prix on 23 March, in which they will aim to get both cars to the finish
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